Salmon Onigiri
by Queen Lucetta
Summary: A pretty standard DougXDylas story. Contains boy love and yaoi, just so you know.
1. Prologue

AN: Hey all! I noticed that the Rune Factory section could use a little more yaoi, so I wrote some~! Feel free to review, I don't mind if I did something wrong and you point it out, or if you point out something that I could improve on. I'm not perfect and I never claimed to be. Anyway, read, hopefully enjoy, and have a nice day~!

It seemed like the dramatic tension was thick as the town's young men casually ate lunch together. Doug and Dylas had been staring each other down since the meal began, so it was only a matter of time before one of them made the first move. Such a scene was common, and yet there was always an air of excitement just before an argument. For now though, the others all tried to act natural.

"Forte's been shining her armour a lot more than usual lately." Keil said thoughtfully. "I think she's been trying to catch someone's attention."

"Really?" Vishnal said attentively. "Who is it?"

Kiel finished his mouthful of cake and said, "It's probably Le-" He stopped as he saw the fox's ears twitch. "I mean, that's a secret. She'd probably kill me if I told you she has a crush on Leon." There was a heavy silence then, and everyone glanced over to Doug and Dylas. Their eyes were still locked even though their food was gone. The tension was rising, but the others thought it best to continue acting natural.

To break the silence, Arthur took off his glasses as if to present them, looking like a proud father. "Lately I've been so busy that I thought I had misplaced these, but yesterday I realised I was wearing them the whole time."

Leon rolled his eyes, and no one else seemed particularly interested in Arthur's glasses talk. Only Vishnal seemed to shudder at the memory of trying to find a specific pair in the midst of literally thousands. Doug and Dylas remained silent. The tension had grown so heavy that even Porcoline peered out from behind the stack of clean plates that never made it to their tables just to see what would happen.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Vishnal nervously cleared his throat and looked around at everyone at the table. His duty as a butler made him want to rid this outing of the unnecessary tension. "So anyway-" but he was abruptly cut off.

"You only won that last festival because you cheated!" Doug declared finally with a forceful slam of his fist against the table. Everyone except Leon jolted up from being startled by the sudden clang. Dylas was ready to counter.

"I won because I'm better than you!"

"Yeah right! You have to resort to cheap, sneaky, underhanded tactics!"

"Your aim just sucks!"

"What did you say?"

Apparently the two were still bickering about yesterday's Turnip Festival. Doug was first up and got an amazing score. He remained in first all day until Dylas beat his score by a small margin. Doug complained that Dylas had more golden turnips thrown at him, and they had been arguing ever since.

At least the atmosphere had returned to normal and all the tension was gone. Everyone went back to their casual conversations despite the belligerent arguing.

Just then, Frey entered looking distressed and also oddly energetic. She seemed to light up when she saw all of the town's eligible bachelors in one spot and approached. "Hey guys!" She said with a smile. "I just noticed that I need a warrior's proof for this weapon I'm making. So, who wants to help?"

Of course no one jumped at the chance. The Leon Karnak was a dangerous place after all. There were a fair number of excuses thrown around, until Leon stoop up nonchalantly and said simply, "I'll do it."

These simple words delighted Frey, but of course the mischievous Leon wasn't done yet. He raised his voice slightly and continued, "after all, only the strongest of us could accompany you to such a dangerous place." A smug smile graced his face after he said that. Anyone passing by could easily see the confidence Leon had naturally, but that confidence had nothing to do with his strength. No, his arrogance had all to do with his ability to understand the human condition.

His words had the desired effect, as both Doug and Dylas turned their attention to Frey. Leon's assertion got their attention and hit just the right nerve to spark their rivalry. In unison, and with an almost aggressive certainty, shouted out "I'll go!" They then glared at each other and then raced to her side. Their eyes locked again, and the bickering began once more.

"Stay here dwarf, you'll only get in the way."

"I can handle myself just fine horse boy! Once we're done, we'll call you to pull the cart or something."

"What? You think you're stronger than me?"

"You're no steed, that's for sure." Doug said with a toothy grin.

"Guys, please!" Frey interjected, comically stepping in between them. "I could use all the help I can get. So uh, you both can come with me, if you want." Her voice was uneasy, and it was obvious. She didn't know if bringing them both was a good idea or not.

"Great, I'll find it first." Doug asserted, puffing out his chest and drawing his sword.

"We'll see about that." Dylas said, readying his gloves.

Frey only sighed. "All right, let's get going." And with that, they were off.

Silence fell over the restaurant. Leon took a seat and continued eating as if nothing happened. Kiel appeared to be distressed. "I hope they don't stay angry. They should keep a cool head or they might get hurt."

Leon shrugged. "At least it's quite now."

AN: That's it for the prologue! Come back tomorrow for the official chapter 1! Same fic site! Same fic writer!


	2. Going right through

AN: I'm back! On with the story!

...

The incessant arguing did nothing to distract a determined Frey as she aptly flew the airship. Occasionally when she felt like the arguing might turn physical, she'd gently remind them to save their strength for fighting monsters and not each other. Somehow they all managed to make it there without the two starting something.

Leon Karnak was a beautiful work of architecture, Doug and Dylas took a moment to appreciate it before Frey, in all her peppy eagerness said, "Alright guys! Let's go!" And she took off up the ladder. The two boys took off after her, nearly climbing over each other in an attempt to get there first. Doug managed to get ahead and climb the ladder faster, earning him a self-congratulating smile and a thumbs up. Dylas arrived shortly after. From the looks of things, Frey didn't even need their help. She was slicing up goblins without even breaking a sweat. Sure it was amazing to watch, but they had to see who was the stronger of the two of them. They took off in different directions and confronted a goblin each in a one on one battle.

It quickly became clear to Doug and Dylas that coming here was a bad idea. Frey had sliced up enough goblins to fill the airship in the time it took for them to take down one. They were both exhausted, but neither knew how the other was doing. Both were far too stubborn to back down, so neither showed any signs of quitting. Still, when another monster appeared before them, they both mentally cursed themselves for coming up with a strength contest in the Leon Karnak. It was clearly above either of their levels, but neither was willing to quit.

"Found it!" Frey called. "Alright, we should probably leave now." She had noticed how her male companions were struggling, so she very casually casted cure all, which fully healed Doug and Dylas.

Of course, their stubbornness wouldn't allow them to retreat. "We'll take it from here." Dylas said, though his voice was very uncertain. Doug shot him a glance, then resolved to stay there too.

"Well, if you say so." Frey said, though she had a bad feeling about leaving them alone. She then climbed down the ladder reluctantly. Once she got back to Selphia, she'd head straight to the clinic to give Jones and Nancy a heads up.

Once Frey was out of sight, Doug and Dylas locked eyes for a moment. "I won't lose to you." Dylas declared with very little conviction. Doug just grit his teeth and turned to face the monster who had appeared near him. Dylas soon became occupied with a monster who appeared by him.

Having just taken down two of this particular monster, Dylas felt as if he were better equipped to deal with them. The goblin had a predictable pattern, dodge the sword, two punches, dodge. He was doing good, holding his own just fine, until a knife lodged into his side. It dug in deep, and the amount of pain it caused was astounding. He flinched, and in that brief moment the monster right in front of him lunged forward, connecting. There was a crunch, and the arm Dylas used to defend himself splintered with the intense pain of a broken bone. The only thing he could do now was run. Where was Doug? Dylas couldn't leave without him. He looked around, acutely aware of the enemies around him, and noticed Doug attacking the portal. Even from a distance, it was easy to see Doug was in bad shape. His shirt was stained with blood, and there was a knife sticking out of his leg. Despite this, his movements were oddly fluid considering his condition. Four monsters were on the field now, and two of them were throwing knives. Neither Doug nor Dylas had noticed the knife throwing monsters because Frey had been taking care of them.

In his desperation, Dylas shot some lightning at all of the monsters, luckily stunning some of them. Doug was quick to take out one while it was stunned.

By now the contest was long forgotten. Dylas no longer cared who was the stronger of them. "Doug, we gotta get outta here!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" He barked back. Dylas could see him limping toward him, and for some reason seeing this gives Dylas a sense of security. All the while one of the knife throwing monsters recovered from stun and targeted Dylas in revenge. Doug noticed right away and did his best to block the attack. He leapt up, and took the knives in the back.

As soon as Dylas noticed, he lunged forward to catch him. Doug was continually pelted with knives, and when Dylas caught him, he felt something sharp and hard against his chest. Doug's body was limp and unmoving, was he even alive? Instinctively he held Doug away from the enemies and casted more lightning. Then he ran as fast as he could toward the ladder. There wasn't much time before the stun wore off.

Getting down proved to be difficult. With a broken arm, he couldn't climb down and carry Doug at the same time. So the only thing he could do was jump, and so he did. The landing was not soft, and the horse fell forward upon impact. He realised then what had been poking him, the tip of a knife that had gone right through Doug's body and now was poking through his chest. Was he even still alive? Dylas didn't know, but he was determined to get him to the clinic. If there was a chance that Doug could be saved, he wouldn't risk leaving him.

So he gathered his strength and stood, carrying Doug with him. He could make it to the airship. It was in his sight. He staggered over and placed Doug gently on the floor. The wind was fairly mild, so he could pilot the ship with just one hand. He had to keep the ride smooth. Dylas was lucky enough to encounter no resistance on his return trip.

Before long they arrived in Selphia, and Nancy was there to greet them. Of course she was horrified to see them in such critical condition and immediately sought out help. Just before Dylas lost consciousness, the last thing he saw was Volkanon, Vishnal and Clorica running frantically toward him.

"… looks bad. … lost… blood." A harsh noise, like metal hitting the floor.

"…Ncy …potion on … top shelf." The sound of bandages, then of glass clanking.

"… he alive?"

"yes." An indistinguishable sound. What was happening?

Silence, long violent silence.

"… breathing?"

"Stablizing."

A pained moan. Doug's voice? A sigh of relief. The sound of metal touching metal.

Dylas faded in and out of consciousness until he was fast asleep.

In the morning, Dylas awoke to find himself in the clinic. His memory was hazy, but he could vaguely remember how he ended up here. He sat up and found that he was alive. His broken arm appeared to have healed perfectly. Magic and medicine sure are wonderful. Then he remembered Doug, and instantly his head turned toward the other bed.

Doug was asleep, and more importantly, he was alive. His chest was wrapped in bloody bandages and he appeared to have some of potion dripping into his arm and another potion at his bed side that smelled strongly. Dylas couldn't see his back from here though, because Doug was on his side facing him, but he could see the dwarf's chest expanding with his breath. Dylas grinned a little, overcome with relief. It was particularly calming to see Doug snoring and drooling, as if he were completely fine.

Nancy had come down the stairs without Dylas noticing. She was quite pleased at least one of them sitting up. "Good morning." She said sweetly. "How are you feeling?"

"Uh, not bad." He replied. Then he glanced back over to Doug, then back to Nancy. "How's Doug?"

"He'll live." She said, slightly uneasy. "It's good that he got here when he did. We managed to save him, but it was close. He's a tough one." She looked over to Doug, who would look fine if not for the bandages. The knives that had been stuck in Doug's back had been taken out placed on the counter. Nancy and Dylas both knew the dwarf would have to be strong to survive so many knives sticking into his back.

"How long until he wakes up?"

Nancy paused. "I'm not sure, it depends on how well he accepts the medicine."

"Oh." Dylas said simply. He felt a sense of unease creep into him. Sure Doug looked fine now, but what if he didn't wake up? It was something he didn't want to think about, but his mind was completely assaulted with the thought.

Noting Dylas's unease, she made an attempt to distract him, "how about some breakfast?"

"Okay."

He didn't seem to be interested at all in breakfast though. Even as Nancy cooked, Dylas either focussed his attention on Doug or stared off into space, lost in thought. 'That stupid dwarf! What was he thinking, jumping in front of knives like that! What an idiot!' Of course, he couldn't bring himself to stay mad. In fact, a new thought invaded his head. What if Doug had taken the knives to defend him. No, absurd. Doug was just being careless. Why would he risk his life for his arch nemesis?

While he was lost in thought, he didn't notice Doug stirring and mumbling. The smell of Nancy's breakfast was having a profound effect on him. His body was reacting in all sorts of crazy ways, but most notably his stomach was growling and his tongue grazed his lips.

As soon as Nancy placed the bowl of rice porridge down for Dylas, Doug's eyes shot open. No one noticed until he said, "is that rice porridge? Great! I'm starving!"

...

AN: Ooo! Okay so I know the whole injury thing got resolved real quick, but I wanted to have a mix of drama and loyalty to the source material. Since you can die and then end up fine in the clinic a minute later, I allowed for there to be a little drama but a quick Rune Factory recovery. Come back tomorrow for the not so exciting chapter 2~!


	3. Pain Killers

AN: This chapter is kind of slow and kind of predictable and so on, but hey, I'm sure some of you will like it. Hopefully...

...

All eyes were fixed on Doug as he reached for the dish, only to flinch in pain and lie back down. Doug then looked around and realised where he was and the company he was in. To everyone's surprise, he smiled, even as he looked at Dylas. "Morning Nancy!" He said, ignoring the other present party completely. "Man, I'm starving!" He said, not attempting to be the least bit subtle and eyeing the bowl of porridge lovingly.

"Oh Doug! How are you feeling?" She asked, clearly surprised to see him awake so soon.

"Hungry." He replied with a lame smile.

"Oh good, I'll get Jones to look you over." And she took off over the stairs to get her husband.

Doug whined quite audibly as Nancy left the room without passing him the bowl. He looked so saddened that even Dylas was moved to feed him. So the horse got up and held out the dish. Doug looked a little confused and suspicious at first, but he was too hungry to be snarky with his arch nemesis. "Thanks." He said, marginally moving his arms to take the bowl. His elation was obvious as he tipped the bowl to his lips. Within seconds the porridge was gone and Doug was left looking better than ever.

There was a nagging feeling in Dylas's mind. He had been wondering if what Doug did was intentional or not, but not enough to come out and ask. Instead, he stood there glaring at the dwarf contemplatively. Obviously, Doug didn't appreciate that. "What, am I really that sexy?" He said bluntly with a mischievous grin.

That comment snapped Dylas out of his musing. "Who'd find you sexy?!"

"Don't be so shy, you know you want me." He chuckled to himself. "Even in battle you couldn't take your eyes off me."

Dylas covered his mouth with his hand for a brief moment, before barking out an indignant "shut up!" and yet, he couldn't deny that he had been watching Doug rather closely during that time. Why was that? Because Doug was weak and scatterbrained, that's why! Just look at the damage he cause himself!

Either way, Doug seemed content and satisfied, even if he couldn't move very much. Just then Nancy and Jones appeared, both relieved that Doug was conscious. "How are you feeling?" Jones asked.

"I've been better." Doug joked. "Is there anything you can do to fix the pain?"

Jones then pulled the curtain as he mumbled something Dylas couldn't hear. There was a hushed rustling noise followed up by the sounds of liquids pouring. There was a moment of silence, in which Dylas sat on his bed, pretending to not be interested in what was going on. Nancy smiled sweetly at Dylas who tried to ignore her, until she too was called behind the curtain. There was another silent pause. All the suspense was killing Dylas. After what seemed liked forever, they drew the curtain back. Doug appeared to be heavily sedated. "Looks like he's going to make a full recovery." Jones said triumphantly.

"WOO!" Doug said in a lofty voice.

Dylas seemed relieved too, even if he'd never say it.

"Anyway, you're free to go Dylas. Your broken arm has healed nicely, and I didn't find any serious internal injuries."

"Thanks." He said simply. Nancy and Jones then left him and made their way to the door where a few people were waiting. Some were patients, others were concerned villagers worried about the two. Dylas sighed and looked at Doug, who appeared to have his eyes unfocussed. That didn't stop the dwarf from talking though.

"Dylaaaas." He cooed, giggling all the while.

"What?" He clearly wasn't in the mood to listen to his arch nemesis prattle on in a drugged up state. So why didn't he just walk away?

"I want to tell you something." He was still giggling. "Can I whisper it in your horsie ear?"

Such an odd request. So why was the stallion going along with it? Sure he was scowling the whole time, but he still leaned in.

Doug leaned in too, grabbing the ear rather roughly, and said, "I don't like bread." Then he giggled some more but didn't let go.

Dylas scoffed and tried to pull away. The dwarf had some kind of freaky kung fu grip on his ear and he couldn't pull away. "Let go!" He growled.

"I don't wanna." Doug giggled. Then, out of nowhere, he pulled the horse down and kissed him. It was only brief, lasting less than a second, but it was having a profound effect on the horse. Doug just kept smiling and said simply, "I always thought you were cool."

That was it, Dylas was getting out of this situation if he had to haul his ear off. He immediately took off and almost trampled Jones and Nancy and then almost burst through the door. Then he knocked over a patiently waiting Frey and almost trampled Porcoline and Meg as he bolted toward the forest.

"Oh my! That boy must be TERRIFIED of needles!" Porco said with a spin.

"Do you think we should go after him?" Meg asked, looking concerned.

"He OBVIOUSLY needs his space. I'll get to work cooking a dinner for him when he gets back!" and so the chef took off to make ten or so meals, with perhaps one of them being for Dylas. Meg just sighed.

Frey had managed to stand up and dust herself off in that time and offered a weak grin. "Well, at least he's feeling better." She couldn't help but feel partially responsible for what happened to them. Now she'd go check on Doug to make sure he was safe.

Jones and Nancy allowed for visitors now, and so a small crowd piled in to see if Doug was okay. Frey and Granny Blossom were among the first to see if he was okay. Doug had since nodded off.

"Will he be alright?" Blossom asked.

"He's fine now, he's just resting." Jones said, but didn't mention the medicine. "He was awake a moment ago, eating rice porridge if I'm not mistaken."

Frey and Blossom just sighed in relief. "That's so like my Doug." The elder said. She was clearly relieved that her absent minded grandson was going to live, and that he was up to his old antics only moments ago.

The only one who saw Dylas run out of town was Forte, and she didn't really think anything of it. He stayed out by Yokmir Forest for a few hours, not knowing if he was angry or flattered or something else altogether. After he just warded off what happened and reasoned that Doug was acting that way because of the drugs, he calmed down and allowed himself to go back to the restaurant.

-later-

"MARVELOUS hello!" Porco said as the stallion entered.

"Yeah, uh, hello." He responed. Clearly he was acting weird, but Porco didn't notice at all. He then ran to his room as quickly as he could, ignoring all other things around him. For a while he thought about writing a diary entry, but on the off chance of someone reading it, he decided against it. Luckily Meg and Porco didn't come knocking and ask if he was okay or anything. Perhaps they knew he needed his space, and that's what made them such great friends.

For a while he lay awake. He kept trying to rationalise that Doug was under the effects of medicine when he did those things. That didn't stop him from being bothered by it though. Most notably, Doug said that he didn't like bread, then said that he always thought Dylas was cool. The horse already knew that Doug didn't like bread, so that was true. What bothered him was the second statement, and of course the kiss. Then again, just because the first statement was true didn't mean the second one was. The whole situation was annoying, but perhaps he'd confront Doug about it tomorrow, when the effects of the medicine ended.

...

AN: I'll try to make it more interesting in the next chapter but no promises. Come back tomorrow, and let the action packed excitement continue!


	4. The Confrontation Chapter, part 1

AN: Okay! The wheels start turning here, yay!

* * *

Dylas had learned that Doug had walked out of the clinic the next morning. Not that he cared, but for some reason he had to go see how the red haired dwarf was doing. It didn't take long before the horse found himself terribly annoyed. Doug seemed fine, just walking around and chattering to the towns people like he was fine, only with a slight limp. Apparently there was some damage to his leg where the knife was, but his torso had recovered fully. Dylas followed him around for a while, just to see if he really was fine. No it wasn't spying, not at all! And Dylas didn't care about what that dwarf was up to! No, he was just concerned about- well, maybe he just wanted to make sure he wasn't talking about the incident at the clinic.

Only after a few minutes of his not spying mission, Dylas felt something akin to fury and frustration. How could Doug possibly be so calm? Look at him, just hobbling around town like nothing happened! Showing off his scars like he was some kind of hero! It was enough to make a stallion sick to his stomach. So sick in fact, that Dylas ended up following that dwarf around all day. Occasionally he'd overhear what Doug was saying, which was all horrible exaggerated lies. And he was telling everyone! So infuriating! He'd have to set the record straight afterwards.

At dusk, Doug left the village in the direction of the Yokmir Forest. Dylas had no choice but to follow, since that dumb dwarf was in no condition to defend himself. At the entrance to the forest, Doug stopped and turned slightly. "You can come out now, nag." He said as if he knew Dylas was there the whole time.

So the horse stepped forward looking as confrontational as possible. "What are you up to?" He asked in a suspicious tone. Clearly he thought his red haired nemesis was up to no good.

"Nothing much. Why have you been following me all day?" He had a snide grin on his face as if to say 'gotcha!' Sure he knew he was being followed all day, but he wanted to know what motives were behind the stalking.

The horse appeared to be caught off guard by that comment, which only served to make Doug's grin snider. Dylas grit his teeth and answered, "I saw you leaving the clinic." His face flushed red and he turned away. "What have you been telling people?"

Now Doug was confused. "Relax dude. I'm not telling anyone what happened at Leon Karnak." That was the only thing Doug could think of. Why else would Dylas be so concerned with Doug's conversations? What made even less sense was that Dylas seemed like the hero in that situation, and surely everyone saw him carrying Doug back. If anything, that could only help him.

"That's not what I'm worried about." Dylas said, his voice getting lower as if he were trying keep what he was saying a secret. Either way, it seemed like Doug was being evasive, so he's have to be direct. "Have you been telling anyone about what happened at the clinic?"

"What?" Nothing unusual happened there right? All Doug could think of was Dylas giving him breakfast. He hasn't mentioned that to anyone, but he didn't think it should be a problem. "I didn't think any of that was important enough to mention. But don't worry, no one will have to know that you gave me breakfast." He seemed genuinely confused as he said this, prompting Dylas to blush even more deeply. What was going on?

"I'm not talking about that." His voice was now little more than a whisper. "I'm talking about…" There was a very long, very awkward pause. Actually, it was only a couple of seconds, but it felt like forever. He took a deep breath and said in a barely audible voice, "when you kissed me." He was hiding his face by now, so Doug couldn't see the blush. Why was he even getting so worked up about this? It was all Doug's fault!

Doug stood looking dumbfounded for a second, but then he started snickering. "I kissed you?! You wish!" He said that as sarcastically as he could, and then snickered some more. Actually, it was kind of admirable of the horse to express his feelings so freely. Was this some kind of confession? What a weird way to confess.

Of course Dylas didn't take kindly to that comment. The flood gates opened and all of his frustration came out at once. "You stupid dwarf! Why would I ever want to kiss you?! You were on painkillers and saying all kinds of weird things! The you told me you wanted to tell me a secret and kissed me out of nowhere!. His face was still red, from anger or embarrassment, he didn't know. There was a heavy silence that fell over the two . What a sudden change of atmosphere.

After a while, Doug cleared his throat. It took a few more seconds for him to start speaking. "I don't know why you'd bother brining that up. I was clearly out of it when I did that." He spoke with a mostly calm voice, even if he was clearly uneasy. He certainly didn't want anything awkward to become of this, so for now he'd blame his odd behaviour on the painkillers. That seemed to be a reasonable excuse for what happened.

There was another pause. The situation seemed to have diffused completely, leaving both parties feeling awkward. Neither wanted to say anything after that, but it would also be too awkward to just walk away. It was like a continuous trap that kept them both locked in place.

Dylas broke the silence. "So, is that it?"

Doug smiled awkwardly. "Yep, you got worked up over nothing."

As annoying as ever. Dylas scoffed, but left after the dwarf was done talking. Now that everything was resolved, Doug started hobbling back to town too. No one in Selphia knew of this meeting or what was said there, and luckily no one overheard what was said.

-Later-

For the next couple of days, the awkward levels between the two were off the charts. By now the tensions had become so tangible that even the other residents of Selphia could feel it if ever the two came close to each other. Every time the eternal rivals would meet on the street, they looked like they just witnessed some kind of world destroying catastrophe, followed up by both parties walking (or running) the other way. There were no more exchanges of insults, no more on the spot competitions, nothing. It roused suspicion from everyone. Doug ended up staying in the shop, and Dylas barely left the restaurant.

Granny Blossom was starting to worry about her grandson. He had fully recovered already, but still refused to leave the shop. She was going to take action. "Dear, why don't you take the rest of the day off? Go take a bath and relax."

That sounded like a good idea. "Thanks." He said. "I'll make it up to you sometime." And with that, he was off. He took the shortest route possible to the inn, and made as minimal small talk as possible with Lin Fa and Xiao Pai. Lucky for him, the bath was extra hot today, just the way he liked it.

-Meanwhile-

"DYLAS!" Porco said from behind the counter. "What's on your mind?"

The horse tensed, but it was obvious that he'd been distracted all day. "Nothing! Just passing out dishes." That alone was a full time job. Making sure the food actually made it to the customer was no easy task, and today he'd let a higher number of dishes get eaten by Porco than usual. For the last hour he literally was passing out dishes, as the food had already been eaten.

"Don't lie to moi! I know something's troubling you!" He spun around once. Just then Meg returned, but Dylas didn't even know she'd gone. "Excellent! Dylas, I want you to take the day off. You'll get wrinkles if you work with so much stress!" The horse looked unconvinced, so Porco continued. "I had Meg make a SPECIAL request at the inn. Go take a bath. I know you like it hot!"

That was true, Dylas did like his baths hot, so how could he refuse such a kind gesture? "I guess I could take the rest of the day off."

"MARVELOUS! Off you go!" He said, running out from behind the counter and shoving his waiter out the door. Once the horse was out of sight, Porco sighed. "Meg, did you speak with Blossom?"

"Yeah." She replied with a blush. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

There was a mischievous glint in the chef's eye. "Perhaps. We'll have to see!"

* * *

AN: Are they in cahoots? Who knows? I don't know if there will be a chapter up tomorrow, but stay tuned anyway~!


	5. The Confrontation Chapter, part 2

AN: Okay! I didn't know if this would work, but I went for it anyway! Both of these guys seem to have too much pride to outright admit their feelings, but I could see them trying something like this. Anyway, on with the show!

* * *

Doug had been so relaxed that he didn't notice someone else enter the bath. He had been quietly humming to himself in his attempt to relieve his stress. Dylas didn't notice Doug because of all the steam. He moved into the water and began to relax himself.

Eventually though, Lin Fa forgot all about the request and noticed how high the temperature of the bath was. Being the ever diligent person she was, she fixed the problem so the bath went back to its usual temperature. She felt unusually pleased with herself for being so on top of things, but couldn't understand why the temperature was up so high in the first place. Reasoning that this was somehow Xiao Pai fault, she continued on like nothing happened.

Inside the bath, the temperature was dropping and the steam was clearing. Both parties inside were starting to notice, and when Doug opened his eyes, there was Dylas. What were the odds? The sight startled him, and he jolted up, creating just enough noise to catch the horse's attention. Once he realised who was here in the bath with him, he seemed to have a similar reaction. This was probably the most awkward situation they could find themselves in.

So for a while they sat there, eyes locked as neither of them wanted to look away. Eventually Doug cleared his throat and tried to act natural. "Oh it's you. Slacking off from work I see."

Dylas scoffed in retort. "You're slacking off!" He flinched back when he realised he was engaging in chatter with his arch nemesis. He had no idea how to act in a situation like this.

By now Doug had thrown his cautions to the wind and started acting like nothing happened. "Granny'll do fine without me. What'll the customers do without their food?" He adopted a sly grin. "Who's going to take the dishes from that chef? Meg?" He was clearly condescending, but he was having fun while he was doing it.

"Shut up! That's none of your business!" After saying that, he covered his mouth and turned away. Why was he chatting with Doug in the bath of all places?

Noticing the horse's frustration, Doug decided to amp up the levels of teasing. This opportunity was too good to pass up. "Did you come here to see me?"

"What?! Why would I ever want to see you?! Especially after-" He stopped there, the last thing he wanted to do was to bring up the incident at the clinic.

Doug caught on anyway, and rolled his eyes. He'd like to forget about that too, but he had to get Dylas to drop it first. "Are you still going on about that?" Doug said with the same playful grin. "Has it really affected you that much?"

That one comment made Dylas stop in his tracks. It was so accurate. This was something that shouldn't have had any effect on him, and yet he'd been thinking about it nonstop. He refused to answer, but his body language was telling Doug everything he needed to know.

"Hey man, relax okay?" Doug himself wanted to end this. It would be best for both of them if they could just go back to the way things were. "Just forget it. It doesn't change anything." Or so it would seem. Dylas was indicating that the incident had changed him, at least in how he viewed his nemesis. Doug sighed, almost annoyed that he had to be the one to bring things back to normal. "Why are you getting so worked up about it anyway?"

Dylas covered his mouth with his hand. That was a very good question. Why was he getting so worked up? Because of that stupid dwarf doing weird things to him! Really? Maybe- He should be well over a stupid stunt by now.

Doug seemed to catch on to something, and fell silent. He was feeling a little awkward himself now, but since he'd already come this far. "You know, I always thought you were cool." Doug said with an uneasy grin. Normally he wouldn't have said anything like that out of the blue, but for some reason this tense atmosphere made him want to say that.

Of course, Dylas tensed up like he just walked in on Porco naked. Of all the things to say! His ears stood straight up and he refused to look at Doug, which greatly confused the dwarf.

"What? You don't like compliments now?" There was a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"No- it's just-" Why was he even responding to this? "You said the same thing- at the clinic."

"Oh." Doug said, going quiet. "Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag now."

"WHAT?"

"Well, yeah." Doug didn't even know if he was messing with Dylas or if he was being serious, but he was feeling kind of weird as he said this.

There was silence, Dylas didn't know how to respond to this new development. He could just as easily said something, perhaps tell the dwarf off, and reject this completely. But he didn't. No, instead he sat there contemplating this new information. The more he thought about it, the more it strangely made sense. "So uh, does this mean-" He really didn't want to finish that sentence, so he didn't.

Doug had to resist the urge to say 'just kidding' and see the reaction. Instead, he really wanted to see where this would go. He could always bail in the end, claim he was just messing with the horse, and then hopefully things would go back to normal. "I guess so." He said.

What to do now? This certainly wasn't what he expected when he came in here. Now what did he want to do? His first instinct was to reject Doug, tell him off or something for being stupid. Then again, there was something telling him to just go with it, but he put that out of his mind. Then he brought it back up and rationalised that Doug was playing him. If that was the case, Dylas wasn't going fall into his trap, backing down with his tail between his legs. He'd beat Doug at his own game! "I uh-" It was harder to say than he thought, even if he was trying to one up Doug. "I guess- that's not so bad." He wanted to see Doug flinch back and admit defeat, at least that's what he told himself.

To both of their surprise, Doug offered a grin, causing Dylas to blush. Doug thought that it was funny. "So is that a yes?" He wanted to be sure about the horse's convictions before he continued.

"Uh-" This seemed like a joke being taken too far, but he wouldn't be outdone. At least, that was his justification for what he was about to say. "okay." That was the best he could do.

Doug's jaw dropped. This certainly wasn't something he expected, but for some reason he was happy. Weird. Might as well run with it. "Great! What do you say we go on a date tomorrow?"

That was certainly something Dylas never expected to hear, at least from Doug. He was starting to regret taking this as a joke. Or maybe this was some kind of test. Perhaps Doug was taking a page out of Leon's book and taking jokes way too far. Oh well, he wasn't about to take back what he said. "I- guess so." He covered his mouth with his hand again. What did he just agree to?

"Great! I'll meet you by the restaurant at 9 tomorrow, okay?" Just how long was he going to carry out this charade?

"Sounds good." Dylas said in a hushed voice.

"Okay then!" There was silence then. Where could they possibly go from here? Neither of them wanted to say anything after that, so they sat in silence refusing to look at each other for a solid four minutes. Suddenly Xiao Pai burst through the door and said, "it seems your time is up, yes?"

"Woah! Don't just come barging in here! This is the men's bath!" Doug said, startled from the sudden intrusion. Dylas didn't seem to care either way.

"It seems I work here, yes? Someone has to tell you when time is up."

That was a good a reason as any to get up and leave, and so the two did so without a word. They both left, taking off in opposite directions, and said nothing about what happened there to anyone.

* * *

AN: It all escalates from here! Time to get into the meat of the story, and the romance! I'll try to have the next chapter up tomorrow too, if I get time between work and school!


	6. Free Food

AN: Will progress be made? Find out in this chapter!

* * *

Doug felt absolutely ridiculous waiting outside the restaurant at 8:30 in the morning. Perhaps this would turn into a giant misunderstanding and they could laugh it off. To his surprise, Dylas exited the door, looking just as lost as Doug. They stood there, eyes locked, as if they could attack at any given moment. Doug was the first to crack a smile. "So, let's do this."

"Yeah uh-" It was so odd asking this, but it seemed like an appropriate thing to ask. "What now?"

"We're going far away where we won't be seen." He said, as if this was the greatest idea he's ever had. "I know someone who's going to cook for us."

"Sounds, interesting." This totally sounded like a real date. Sure he was uneasy, but he was also a little excited too for some reason. He reasoned that if nothing else, he'd get a free meal out of it, so I wasn't all bad. "So where exactly is this?"

There was a hint of hesitation, but Doug eventually answered, "in the Sechs Territory. Don't worry though, this isn't some attempt to reconnect with them." Sure that part of his life was something he'd like to forget. When he was with the Sechs Empire, he was only being tricked and used. The only good thing to become of it was that he met a nice lady who made him a free meal every day. It was obvious that Doug wasn't with the Sechs Empire anymore, but he still didn't like talking about it. He wouldn't mind taking Dylas to her house though, since no one from Selphia would be there, and also because he wouldn't have to pay.

Dylas seemed fine with this, just giving a nod and following his red haired accomplice to the airship. The best part of going to such an obscure location was no one would see them, and on the off chance someone did see them, they could easily claim they were having another contest, only in a safer location this time. It was fool proof! Hopefully…

They flew toward the Sechs Territory in silence. Doug flew the ship while Dylas just sat quietly until they landed. There may have been tension between them, but Doug was completely oblivious to it. There was one thing on his mind, and that was getting something delicious to eat. He almost forgot about Dylas in all his excitement.

So the horse just followed along until they came upon a house. Doug just walked right in like he owned the place, so Dylas reluctantly followed.

"Hey!" Doug said, pleased to note that the food was already put out for them. He took a seat at her table with his date, looking on with mild amusement. "Dig in." He commanded, more for Dylas's sake. He'd probably have it all eaten before the horse even started.

"Oh, right." He said. It was kind of awkward eating at a stranger's house with Doug. In fact, there was no way to make this situation not awkward, so he just started eating reluctantly. The whole thing didn't take too long.

"That was great!" Doug said when everything was finished. "Thanks again."

"Come back tomorrow for another dish."

"I'll keep that in mind." Doug responded, even if he had no intention of coming back here tomorrow. Dylas seemed to blush at the thought of coming back here tomorrow, but Doug hadn't noticed. "You ready to head back now?" the dwarf asked. This was all shaping up to be just like a real a real date, or so Dylas thought.

"Yeah." He said, unsure if he wanted to get away from Doug or not. So far nothing seemed suspicious, so perhaps if he ended it soon, there'd be no prank at the end.

The two then left the house and very casually made their way back to the airship. Neither of them said anything until they were back on the ship. Doug gave Dylas a little nudge and asked, "do you want to drive back?"

"Uh, sure." At least then there'd be less chance of Doug taking them somewhere weird. The return trip was silent. Dylas concentrated on flying the airship the whole time and Doug didn't want to break that concentration.

It was about noon when they touched down in Selphia. Both boys exited the air ship looking away. Doug grinned awkwardly and said, "well, I guess that's it then." He was about to walk away, when his arm was expectantly grabbed by the horse. When he turned Dylas was wearing a look that said he couldn't believe what he'd just done. "Something on your mind?" Doug was actually blushing a little, but he was unaware of that himself.

"I uh-" Even he didn't know why grabbed the dwarf's arm, but he did have a question he needed answered. "So uh, was that a real date?" His face had gone completely red. He expected that he had walked right into a trap or something. This certainly gave Doug the upper hand. What a stupid thing to ask!

Doug just kept grinning. "I guess so." What exactly would a fake date be like? He didn't know, but he did make good on his word. He wanted to follow it up with 'what, you didn't like it?' but immediately decided against it. Perhaps they could just put this all behind them, but that seemed really unlikely. Something like this wasn't something that they'd be able to forget.

"No, I mean-" For some reason, Dylas really wanted conformation on this. It was really bothering him. "I mean, was this really a real date?"

"Uh-" Doug didn't know what to make of that question. He already answered but it seemed like that wasn't enough. Perhaps he should give Dylas a hug? Well, he already made it this far, might as well go for broke. He lunged at the horse who obviously didn't have enough time to defend himself, and gave him a quick one armed hug. It only lasted a second, and when he was done he gave Dylas a cheeky smile and said, "Yep, it sure was a real date. Did you have fun?" He thought about saying something sarcastic, but then decided against it on the off chance of getting Dylas angry.

Dylas let go of Doug's arm, mainly to cover his face. It would be hard to deny what went on after that. Then again, Doug just hugged him out of nowhere, and with people nearby that could have possibly seen them! This time he grabbed Doug's arm violently and dragged him in the direction of the restaurant. That caught the attention of the tourists far more efficiently than Doug's minor show of affection just then.

"Woah, hey!" Doug complained as the horse dragged him. He struggled a little but soon gave up and allowed himself to be dragged. Honestly he had no idea what the horse was planning, whether it was something violent or not.

Dylas stormed through the doors of the restaurant, greatly startling Meg mid song but not having any effect at all on Porco. They continued up the stairs toward Dylas's room.

"Dylas looked pretty mad." Meg said. "Do you think we should break them up?" She was talking about a possible fight.

"Leave them be!" Porco replied, as if he knew something she didn't. "Let them get over their lover's spat in peace!"

Meg just rolled her eyes and continued playing.

Once Dylas made it into his room, he backed Doug into the wall and stared him down. The dwarf appeared to look defensive. That was only because he didn't know if he was going to be attacked.

"What are you up to?" Dylas asked at last.

"Nothing." Doug was starting to get angry now, and he was ready for a confrontation.

"You're telling me that everything that happened isn't some kind of prank?"

"Yes!" He felt a little embarrassed admitting to that, but it was the truth. "Relax dude, you don't have to do it again."

Dylas stopped then, and just stared at him. He blushed and turned away. It was almost like Doug was implying that he wanted to go on another date. "I-" It was just so surreal that he had just come back from a date with Doug. He was having a hard time believing it was really happening, and an even harder time adjusting to what this could mean. "I guess this isn't- so bad."

Doug's jaw dropped. It was all good though. So he grinned. "Hey, glad you liked it." The horse turned away, which was good, perhaps. "You liked it so much you brought me to your room?" He couldn't help it, his sarcastic side just had to come out. His grin turned snide as the horse as the horse realised the implications of that.

"You stupid pebble brained dwarf!" He snorted, causing Doug to comically dodge out of the horses way near the stairs.

"See you later, nag!" He said, then took off down the stairs. Dylas was left alone in his room, completely confused. Eventually he decided that he'd pay the dwarf back tomorrow, so they'd be even. Of course, that didn't really make sense since the meal they ate was free, but that was beside the point! He'd just pay the dwarf back, for the date, yeah. It was still an odd situation, but if Doug was capable of doing something nice, then so was he.

* * *

AN: Woo! More chemistry in the next chapter, but right now our boys have to get used to the idea of being an item~!


	7. A Short Outing

Super short chapter guys! Not much happens, but I thought something would be better than nothing. Also, no more beating around the bush! Yay!

* * *

When Dylas woke up that morning, he seriously considered ignoring the dwarf all day, but of course that wouldn't accomplish anything. No, he had to return the favour, so then they'd be even. He didn't want Doug having the upper hand, even if he wasn't sure what that was in this situation.

So he got to work making sashimi out of the fish he'd caught in Porco's kitchen before the chef woke up. That didn't take long, but he was so focussed on making the sashimi that he didn't notice the chef come up behind him. "SUPER Good morning!" Porco said, startling the horse so much that he almost cut his fingers off.

"Good morning." He responded as he quickly wrapped the sashimi for later. If he wasn't careful Porco would end up eating it and then he'd have to catch more fish. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but right now he had to get his repayment date over with. He made his way to the door, only to have Porco start prying.

"And where are you off too in such a hurry?"

Since he couldn't say what he was up to, he made up a very believable lie. "I'm going fishing."

The chef seemed to believe it and replied simply, "bring some back for moi!"

"Yeah." He responded before heading out. For a while he wondered if he should seek out Doug directly, or wander around and make their meeting look like an accident. Going direct seemed like the best course of action, so that's what he did.

He found the dwarf just outside the shop sweeping up. So he approached without a hint of subtlety and eventually locked eyes. Doug had an unreadable expression, but for some reason Dylas could tell that he was expecting something.

"Doug." He said finally.

"Yeah?"

"I want to, uh, repay you for yesterday."

Doug got a mischievous grin on his face hearing that. "Oh really?" There was really nothing to repay him for, since the 'date' had been totally free. "Is this your way of saying you like me?"

"Shut up!" He barked back, blushing slightly. "I just don't want to have to owe you."

Doug just rolled his eyes and went along with it. It seemed like a legitimate excuse, but he knew it was just a guise. "Fine, fine. So where are we going?"

Well, they obviously couldn't go to Porcoline's kitchen, so he couldn't take him there for free food. Of course, he was already prepared for that. "I think I know a place." Dylas said. It was a place outside of town, so no one would see them. There was no special significance to the place, it was just a clearing where they could eat together.

It was just outside the water ruins. Dylas seemed pretty content being around here. He took out two portions of sashimi for them that he made himself. Technically it was free, even if Dylas caught the fish and cut it up himself, but he liked doing that anyway. "Have a seat."

They both sat down and started eating. Doug wasn't particularly fond of sashimi, but it was free food, so he'd take it. They ate in relative silence again, and once the sashimi was gone, Doug broke the silence.

"Hey, Dylas?"

"Yeah?"

"Now I owe you." The dwarf said with a sly grin.

"Wha-"

"It's only fair right?"

Dylas thought about that for a moment. Clearly this was going to continue, but really that didn't seem like such a bad thing. So he decided it was time to go direct instead of dancing around the subject like they've been doing. "Doug, are you asking me out?" He couldn't believe he actually asked that, but it didn't seem as strange after all that's happened.

"I've been pretty into you." Doug admitted. "So uh, whatdaya say?" It was pretty point blank. Might as well just ask. Worst case scenario, they go back to being the eternal rivals they were before. That wasn't so bad really.

"I uh," For the briefest of moments, he wanted to say no. The more he thought about it though, the more he thought it was a good idea. When he first came to this town, Doug seemed to be there the most, always tormenting him. He was able to come out of his shell because of the dwarf constantly picking fights with him, tormenting him, getting him to say stupid things. Perhaps giving him a chance wouldn't be so bad. "I could give it a shot." What did he just agree to? Even he couldn't believe it.

Doug's jaw dropped, but he was happy. "Seriously?" He couldn't deny that he wasn't expecting that. Either way, he smiled. "Well then, should we change what we call each other?" Every couple seemed to do that in Selphia, so he thought maybe they should too.

"No! I mean, our names are fine."

"Oh good, I won't have to make the effort to learn another name." Doug said, basking in his laziness.

There was silence for a brief moment, and then Dylas spoke, "so, is that it?"

"I guess so."

"We are- officially a couple now?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

There was another pause. Doug Just smiled and said to his horsey companion, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow. I gotta pay you back after all."

"I- uh, okay."

So tomorrow would be their first 'official' date as a couple. Maybe it would be fun to not have to pretend they were only spending time together out of some kind of obligation or to one up each other. Perhaps now they could find out just how compatible they really were.

"Do you want me to take you back now?" Dylas asked. He still had to get some fish for Porcoline since he said he would.

Doug seemed fine with that. "Sure." He said. Soon they were back in Selphia and off on their separate ways again.

* * *

Super short chapter, but oh well. I'll be fast forwarding a little in the next chapter maybe!


	8. Delicious

Happy Canada day everyone! Since I have the day off, I'm giving you all a double feature! Come back soon for the next chapter!

* * *

The days passed, and to the casual observer, Doug and Dylas returned to normal. They still argued constantly and always seemed to be trying to one up each other. Today was the eating festival, so Dylas really wasn't all that excited. Doug had been stuffing his face on a regular basis leading up to this day as a way of training. Dylas complained that Doug was only looking for excuses to eat more, which Doug agreed to whole heartedly. Today though, he'd resolved to not eat a thing until the contest began. Of course, Dylas couldn't pass up an opportunity to torment.

"Dylas, would you please stop with the cooking?" Doug whined as his boyfriend casually cooked up some dishes.

"Sorry." The horse said with a snide grin, "someone has to do it. We can't leave it to Porco 'cause he'd eat all of the dishes himself." He could have allowed Volkanon to do all of the work, maybe get Clorica in on it, but he volunteered specifically to torment Doug. It was working.

"Man, all this waiting is killing me." He licked his lips. The smell of bamboo rice caused his stomach to growl loud enough for the horse to hear, earning a snicker. "Do you have to be cooking with rice?" He looked so sad and longing, just like he did in the clinic. It was amusing to say the least.

Just then, Meg came in to check on Dylas and see how the cooking was going. "Hey Dylas! Volkanon asked me to come check on things. How's it going?"

"Not bad." He replied as he put a loaf of bread in the oven. Doug scoffed, causing the horse to grin snidely.

"Oh Doug, I didn't know you were here." Meg said. "Are you helping Dylas with the cooking?"

"Yeah right." He snorted. "I'm just here to make sure he doesn't mess up the dishes."

"As if you could do any better!"

"I might not even participate this year, if it means I'll have to eat your food."

Dylas scoffed and got to work kneading another loaf of bread out of spite, or so it seemed. Meg seemed pleased, "well, it seems like you've got everything covered. I'll report back." And with that, she left. Doug continued talking as if she never came in at all.

"Do you have to cook so much bread?" His voice was more of a whine.

"I just want to see you squirm a little." He grinned almost evilly as he said that.

"Come on!" He whined in response. They continued on like that for a while, until Doug had to leave and register. All the while Dylas would be silently rooting for his lover to win. It wasn't often that Doug won a festival after all.

Once all the dishes were done, and there were quite a lot of them, Volkanon appeared with a trolley, ready to transport the dishes. Dylas carried a few on his own, looking around for Doug as he entered the square. He was standing with Frey, Porco and Lin Fa. They were all looking voracious. Dylas couldn't help but grin a little, as it was cute to see the dwarf so excited about something.

The contest began shortly after, and Dylas was actually in awe of Doug's ability to stuff down food. He put up a good fight, but in the end he lost to Porco by a small margin. That was impressive in itself, since Doug was less than half the size of Porco. Volkanon handed out prizes and Doug quickly joined with the other bachelors.

"The ladies seem to be extra self-conscious around this time." Arthur observed.

"I don't know what their deal is." Doug said with a grin. "I kinda like a girl with a little meat on her."

Dylas's ears twitched, but he kept quiet as everyone else talked. A few people thanked him for making the dishes this year, when he'd minimally respond to.

After everyone had gone home for the night, the two sneaked off to the Selphia plain to get some quality alone time. They sat down together in fairly close proximity, but weren't touching yet. Dylas had something on his mind.

"Is what you said earlier true?"

"What?"

"About liking girls with a little meat on her." It was clear that he was jealous of that. Not only was the horse toned and not in the possession of much body fat, but he also wasn't a girl.

Doug only grinned, finding his partner's insecurities to be extremely cute. "Yeah, I do like girls with a bit of meat." He paused to gage Dylas's reaction, then continued, "but you don't have to worry, you're not a girl." He paused again, grinning mischievously. "Right?" The horse scoffed at the obvious teasing. Doug was obviously getting a kick out of this, grinning ear to ear. "You know, if you wanted to put on a few pounds, I wouldn't object." He chuckled as Dylas's face darkened. It was a joke, partially. When the horse turned away, Doug moved closer and put his head on Dylas's shoulder.

They sat together like that for a while, not really saying anything. Surprisingly, Dylas was the one to speak first. "So how did my dishes taste?"

"It was good. Even you couldn't mess up a rice dish." He said with a snicker.

"That's good." He completely ignored the snide comment and smiled.

"If you want, I could let you taste some."

"How are you gonna do that? Did you save some or something?"

"Something like that." Doug said. Then he started moving in. He placed a hand on Dylas's leg, which instantly caught his attention. The horse turned his head, and Doug took this opportunity to go in for the kill. He quickly pressed his lips against his lover's before he had time to protest.

Both closed their eyes. It lasted only a few seconds, but it was sweet. Dylas even attempted to kiss back, but his inexperience made him reluctant to do so. They parted, but Doug made no effort to sit back down. "Well, was that delicious or what?" Doug said comically.

Being the completely oblivious guy he was, Dylas responded, "I didn't really get a taste of any of my dishes."

Doug just assumed he was acting clever, which he liked. "Really? Let's try again then." He moved in again, but at least Dylas was a little more prepared this time. Of course, Doug had to up the ante, and so he pressed his tongue against the horse's lips. He was granted access with little prodding, with Dylas's tongue ready to greet him. This kiss was a little slower than their last, and lasted longer.

When they broke apart this time, Dylas seemed to be a lot more confident. He was actually smiling a little, which was adorable to say the least.

"So how was it? Delicious right?" The dwarf asked with a sly grin.

Honestly Dylas didn't know if his lover was referring to the kiss or the food, so he just nodded. Doug sat back down next to his steed looking perfectly contented. This encounter had given Doug a great idea. "Tomorrow-" He began, actually blushing a little himself, "I wanna take you out to the cave. You know, the one that's buried now."

"Why do you want to go there?" It was kind of an odd request, but he wasn't opposed to the idea.

"You know that lovers who write their names there are rumoured to have a happy relationship." It was a little embarrassing having to admit that, but it was true. "It's caved in now, but I think it'll be a nice spot to visit."

"Okay." He said.

"Great!" Doug seemed unusually happy about that, so much so that he stood up and offered Dylas a hand. "I'll walk you home." He asserted.

Dumbfounded at the sudden change of atmosphere, he responded with, "how about I walk you home?"

"I don't think so." He said through gritted teeth. "I can't leave you unattended this late at night."

"What? I'm much more capable than you!"

Doug snickered, he'd never get tired of this. "Come on, let's just go. I'll let you walk me back tomorrow." Sure he could go one and feed this argument, but he wanted to get prepared for tomorrow.

Dylas reluctantly gave in and allowed the Dwarf to walk him home. On his way back to the shop, he couldn't help but feel excited to put his plan to action.


	9. Setting Up

Aaaand here's the bonus chapter! It's a little short, but it gets the point across. Once again, happy Canada Day!

* * *

Doug woke up particularly early to get himself ready. Last night's happenings made him want to try something out, namely bringing their relationship to the next level. He even started making some onigiri for them. Mostly for him, but also for Dylas. Granny Blossom noticed how happy he was and commented, "You seem to be in a good mood this morning."

"I am!" Doug said with a large grin. "I'm heading out now, but if you need any help I could stay around here a little longer." It was clear that he was eager to go, so how could she tell him to stay around here?

"Don't worry now dear, I can manage."

He flashed a grin and headed out the door. He didn't know exactly where the horse was, so he'd wander around Selphia until he found him. Perhaps he'd make his rounds and pay everyone a visit. That way it wouldn't look as suspicious when he ran into Dylas.

Eventually he ran into Dylas at the lake, big surprise. He was so into his fishing that he didn't notice Doug there. So the dwarf took a seat and waited as patiently as he could. It took all of his will power not to yell at Dylas and tell him to hurry up, but the horse certainly wouldn't appreciate that.

So he sat there, tapping is foot and looking around. Fishing was so boring, why did Dylas spend so much time doing it? Sure, he could catch fish better than Doug could, but still, staring at a floating ball for minutes at a time seemed boring no matter how well they could it. After a good ten minutes, Doug sighed loudly, enough to catch the horse's attention. He didn't seem the least bit surprised. "Hey." He said.

"Hey." Doug replied. "I got you some onigiri." He said with a grin.

Even if Dylas wasn't particularly fond of onigiri, it was a nice gesture. "You made this yourself too, I appreciate it."

The dwarf responded with a thumbs up. He started talking again as the horse started to eat. "So-" Doug said, not wanting to dance around the subject. "Do you want to go to the cave now?"

Dylas had already taken a bite of the rice ball. "Okay." He mumbled. Doug grinned and led the way. Once they got there, Doug started examining the marking by the cave. Apparently couples still wrote their names there. Perhaps they could too, if there was a spot no one could see. Eventually Doug drew attention to the names, and Dylas leaned in for a closer look.

They stood there by the cave, with Doug grinning mischievously. Dylas didn't seem to be paying much attention to Doug, instead choosing to examine the cave, so he didn't notice Doug's body language or his sly grin. It had been plaguing the Dwarf for a while now, this urge to take their relationship to the next level. Dylas seemed think having their relationship at a standstill was fine, but that wasn't enough anymore. So Doug, being the laid back guy he was, said simply through his toothy grin, "so, when are we gonna have sex?"

If Dylas had been drinking something, he would have spit it out in hilarious cartoon fashion. He didn't turn to face his lover, but his ears had stood straight up, and Doug could see his tail tense, which pleased him greatly. Dylas's face was now as red as Doug's hair, but he felt the need to respond. "Wh- where did that come from?" He put his hand over his mouth and refused to look at his lover, who was more than ready to respond.

"Come on man! We've been going out for like, almost a month now. I can't wait around forever." His tone was mostly joking, but there was truth in what he was saying. "So, let's have sex."

"You mean, right now?" Dylas was clearly flustered, and he really had no idea where to go from here.

"No, not right now." Doug said, snickering. "How about tomorrow? Come over to my place, and we'll make it happen." It sounded more like a business deal, but he knew that was the approach Dylas would best respond to. He was incredibly shy after all, and lacked any sort of relationship experience. That was okay though, it would give Doug time to get ready.

"Uh- what about the shop?" He didn't even know why he brought that up, it just sort of came out. At least it was a legitimate complaint, and he certainly didn't want Granny Blossom walking in on them.

"Come by after hours. I'll buy Granny a spa day so we can have the place to ourselves." There was a slight hint of impatience in his voice, though it was mostly drowned out by his excitement. Besides, it would give him an excuse to give Granny Blossom a nice present.

It at least sounded like Doug had a plan, or at the very least had given it some thought. Dylas would be lying if he said he never thought of doing this kind of thing. In a way, it was a good thing Doug made the first move. He may have never brought up the topic, let alone in such a direct manner, so it was good Doug was there to mediate the speed in which the relationship progressed.

"All right. You'd better make sure there's no one else there."

That was pretty self-explanatory, but he nodded anyway. Dylas looked away, mainly to hide the redness of his face, and Doug wasn't going to have that. He causally walked over and hugged tightly from behind, no doubt alluding to what would soon happen. "You'd better not chicken out." He whispered, partially seductively and partially humorously. Dylas tensed up, so the dwarf thought it was only fair to let him go."Well, see ya tomorrow." Doug said with a smile just before leaving. He figured he'd tormented the stallion enough for one day. There wasn't much to get ready, but that wasn't going to stop Doug from making his place respectable.

* * *

The next chapter will contain the idea that started this fic. I have school, so I don't know if I'll get it done, but I'll try!


	10. Heavy Spice

Surprise! Triple feature! Just got back from the fire works, thought I could tease you all a little!

* * *

Coming back from the cave, Dylas felt his face burning. He had to take his mind off of tomorrow, and his scandalous meeting with Doug. So he just went right back to the lake

He hardly noticed Frey, but he noticed there was someone next to him. For reasons which he could never explain, he blurted out, "I might go visit Doug tomorrow." He was still contemplating whether or not he wanted to go through with this or not.

"Huh? Are you two close now?"

"Urk!" As soon as she said that, Dylas felt his blood run cold. How could he have been so stupid as to say that?! And now Frey was on to them! At least it wasn't Kiel, but still! How was he going to get out of this one? "Wh wh why would you think that?" That wasn't a good save. Should he just come clean and explain the situation? "Um, you see…" Would that really be a good idea though? What would Doug think? No, abort mission! Bail! "NO! You're wrong!" That was it, he ended up taking off toward the restaurant, leaving Frey confused.

"Wrong about what?" She said under her breath.

-The next day-

So today was the big day. Dylas was jittery from the moment he got up, and his thoughts were running wild. He got up and looked at himself in the mirror. Suddenly he felt self-conscious and ridiculous. He attempted to keep his thoughts in order as he got dressed, and yet somehow he still managed to put his pants on backwards and his shirt on inside out. It took an absurd amount of time for him to get himself properly dressed, he hoped no one would notice. Then he almost tripped and fell down the stairs thrice on his way to the restaurant. Porcoline didn't seem to care or notice and simply greeted a distressed Dylas with a "MEGA good morning!"

"Uh, yeah, good morning." Dylas mumbled. There was no one at the restaurant right now, which was bad. The horse really wanted to keep himself busy, occupy himself to keep his mind off of Doug and their scandalous meeting tonight. For now he took a seat and tapped his fingers nervously on a table. His ears visibly twitched atop his head, and he was acutely aware of his surroundings.

After a few hours, it was fairly clear that it was going to be slow day. They had only served one customer all day, which was wreaking havoc on Dylas's nerves. Porcoline didn't know why his waiter was so tense. That didn't matter to Porco, he just wanted Dylas back to his usual self. "Why don't you take the rest of the day off?" the chef said at last. Dylas' ears perked up and he appeared to tense up even more.

"Thank you." He mumbled, then left. Perhaps he could calm down if he took a bath. Then his mind started conjuring up more controversy. What if he ran into Doug? What would he do then? But then, what if he didn't get himself clean first, and Doug was repulsed by him? No, that was unlikely, but still! In the end, he decided a bath was a good idea.

He was obviously nervous about something, but Lin Fa didn't question him. She just let him in as normal.

"Mama, perhaps you should turn the heat up, yes? Dylas likes the water hot." Xiao Pai said as she swept up a stack of broken plates.

Something seemed to click in Lin Fa's head after hearing that. "Oh, so that's why the bath temperature was up so high the other day!" She wondered if she had somehow messed up, perhaps Dylas was resentful of her mistake? He hadn't mentioned it, so she'd let it slide for now. Within a few moments, she forgot all about that.

Even with the higher temperature, Dylas was still on edge. He just couldn't get himself to relax. His mind was very focussed. It was odd for him to be this focussed one thing. So when he was done bathing, making himself clean and presentable, he left silently. This time, he'd try to occupy his mind with fishing.

He moved as quickly and efficiently as possible to the lake. No one was there, so it would be nice and quiet, perfect for clearing his mind. He cast his pole and waited. He spent hours here, until the sun set. There was no more waiting, no more stalling for time. Doug was waiting for him, so all he could do was go there and see what happened. So he crept like a ninja, trying his hardest not to be seen. He almost leapt ten feet in the air when Leon passed by and said in the sleaziest voice he could muster, "where are you going?"

"Shut up!" Dylas barked at him. He proceeded on in a feeble attempt to ignore the fox and get to his destination. For now, Leon would show some mercy and resist the urge to torment the horse. He knew exactly what he was up to after all.

It took a while for Dylas to muster up the courage to knock. When he did, it was low, barely audilbe. On the off chance someone was around, he didn't want to draw attention to himself. Doug opened the door. Unlike Dylas he was grinning ear to ear and not the least bit nervous. "Glad you came." The red head said with a smile, waving him in. Dylas rushed in and all but slammed the door behind it. Of course, Doug thought this was hilarious. "Calm down man! If go acting all suspicious people are gonna wonder what you're up to." Dylas didn't seem too happy with this and growled in discontent, which only made Doug smile all the more.

On the table was a modest spread of salmon onigiri. The horse's eyes were drawn to them, just as a way to change the subject. "Did you make this?"

"Yeah! Fish for you, rice for me!" He said with a smile. He even went through the trouble of catching the salmon, but he wouldn't bring that up right now.

Dylas had to admit, it was a nice gesture. "Thanks." He mumbled as he grabbed one and stuffed it into his mouth. He absolutely refused to look at Doug, instead choosing to focus intensely at a common bag of tomato seeds. Clearly the nerves were getting to him. It was kind of cute in a way.

"Sooo…" Doug said as he observed his lover's sudden strange fascination with seeds, "You wanna go upstairs?"

"I think we should finish the onigiri here." Dylas replied bluntly. Doug honestly didn't know if this was done intentionally or if he really was that oblivious, so he just rolled his eyes and let the steed eat in relative silence. By now even he was starting to feel awkward. That was a real rarity and an astounding feat for the horse. Not everyone could make Doug feel so awkward this easily.

After some time passed, Doug was starting to feel a little impatient, but only a little. It seemed like Dylas was taking his sweet time eating the one rice ball he took, while Doug had taken down the rest of them. "So uh, is there anything else you need to take care of?" His voice was slightly confused, and impatient.

"I uh." It looked like he was out of excuses. "I guess we could go upstairs." His face had flushed a bright red as he said this. Though, he was a little excited after saying such a thing.

"Great!" Doug said. By now he was shoving his stallion companion up the stairs in impatience. At first there was some resistance from the horse, but eventually he gave in and allowed himself to be pushed. And so the dwarf forced Dylas up the stairs and into his room. He seemed pleased once they entered.

"Nice place." Dylas said lamely, before getting tackled onto Doug's bed. His grip was tight, just in case the horse tried to escape.

Doug got right to work pinning down the horse in such a way that he had no choice but to look at him. Doug's expression was oddly predatory, and he went in for the attack with little hesitation. At first he started with light kissing, just to ease the horse into it. So far so good. Dylas was responding, he wasn't shying away and actually moving his lips against Doug's. Time to execute phase two.

The red head very covertly attempted to undress Dylas while he was distracted by the kissing. He was almost successful until Dylas grabbed his hand, stopping him dead. Doug groaned in frustration. "What's the deal?" He asked, trying to be as understanding as possible. That was difficult considering his hormones were running wild.

Dylas had gone red in the face, but that was all he could do. "It's nothing." He said, "just, let me do it."

Doug watched in amusement as Dylas began stripping. It took forever for him to get his shirt off, and his hands were shaking all the while. The horse actually worked up the courage to look Doug in the face, even putting on a confident smirk. Dylas's demeanor seemed to have changed completely once he noticed Doug's jaw drop and his face tint red. The horse grinned, "you like what you see?"

"Oh yeah." Doug replied, licking his lips. He then tackled his lover back down with a sudden urge to taste that newly exposed skin. So he did just that. He didn't go for the nipples right away, instead he teased the skin of the newly exposed flesh with his tongue, around the collarbone. Dylas sighed and arched slightly, that was Doug's queue to start branching out. He nipped at Dylas's nub, earning a light moan. At that, Doug pulled back and gave Dylas a little strip show. He stayed straddled over Dylas while he got rid of his clothes, all of them. There was not an ounce of modesty in him as he ground his hips against the other's. His own erection was pretty obvious, and he could feel his lover hardening under him. He grinned, and whispered in a husky, seductive voice, "You know what I'm going to do?"

"What?"

"I'm going to ride you. Like a pony."

Normally he would have protested, but he'd let it slide for tonight.

Doug started kissing his lover's neck as he gradually brought his fingers up to his entrance. Just then they heard something click, stopping both of them instantly. Then the door swung open.

"What was that?" Dylas asked.

"Someone's here." But who? He'd go check anyway. Surely Granny wasn't done with her spa day already?

"He-o" the mystery person said. "It seems we are out of bath salts."

Doug groaned audibly. What a horrible turn of events. "I'll get her fixed up and outta here." He said as he got up and hastily hauled on his pajamas. There was still the problem of Doug's obvious erection, so he grabbed a box of seeds to cover it, hoping it wouldn't be too obvious.

* * *

The salmon onigiri scene was actually the inspiration for the fic. There most likely won't be a chapter tomorrow, so this will have to do for now. Sorry about the teasing!


	11. Bath Salts and Potions

I thought I'd be more busy, but I still had time to type this up and post it! Yay! I'm pretty sure this is what you were all waiting for, and as our main characters in this story are doing this for the first time (together) it's a little slow and awkward. Yay!

* * *

Doug stepped over the stairs with the box of seeds marginally concealing his erection. He offered Xiao Pai a smile and said simply, "hey." He then got to work looking for the bath salts so he could hustle her out and get back to Dylas. It was kind of hard to search for things while holding a box to his crotch, but soon he had enough to keep the bath running for at least a few days. "There you are! Completely on the house." He offered a grin and held the salts out with one hand.

All the while Xiao Pai looked like she was thinking intensely about something. Just before she took the salts, she said "oh, I see. You were doing the masturbation, yes?"

His jaw dropped after hearing that. It was just said so bluntly that he didn't have a chance to properly retort. "You don't need to be so direct." He said.

By now she didn't seem to care. "Thank you." She said with a wink, "and I'll not tell Blossom what you were up to, yes?"

"Oh yeah, thanks." Doug replied, looking wounded. Once she left, he was sure to lock the door, then block it was a piece of material stone to prevent someone from busting in.

He abruptly dropped the box of seeds and ran back up to his room. The anticipation was killing him, and he hoped Dylas was feeling the same. When he got up over the stairs though, he noticed Dylas was staring him down. This was bad.

Doug approached, wearing an uneasy grin. "So, you ready to get back to business?"

Dylas raised an eyebrow. "You're going to 'ride' me?"

Uh-oh, looks like that brief pause gave Dylas just enough time to object to being on bottom. It would have been so much better if he was still thinking with his other head, as just moments ago he seemed fine what that arrangement. Doug wasn't backing down though. "Well yeah! Like a pony…" it sounded a lot less seductive now, and a whole lot more pathetic.

"You're so much smaller than me." He grinned snidely as if to imply a double meaning.

"So what!" the dwarf retorted, choosing to ignore the double meaning. "You're the horse, I get to ride you!"

"Stop calling me a horse." Dylas demanded.

"You're a horse." He replied with a confident grin. "And a shy virgin right?"

The horse's face turned completely red, but he didn't turn away this time. Doug had hit the nail on the head so to speak, but he wasn't going to admit that. "So what?" he said, but his reply was weak.

"So what?!" He couldn't really give a coherent response, so he pretended to walk away. Dylas watched in disbelief as the dwarf took off down the stairs again, only to return a moment later with a bottle of something. What was he going to with that? Drug him?

"What's that?" Dylas questioned, his voice sounding suspicious.

"Mystery potion." He said as he approached, looked just a predatory as before.

"What? Are we gonna fight for the top?"

Doug flashed a mischievous grin as he approached. Then he placed the potion on the table and very carefully sidled up. "No fighting required." He said as he positioned himself over Dylas's lap again. The horse made no attempt to push him off, instead watching with an intrigued look about him. Doug wasn't admitting defeat that easily though. "Let's just say when I'm done with you, you're gonna be glad there's a potion nearby."

The horse wasn't ready to give in yet. That changed when Doug pinned him down and forced him into a rough kiss. This was one fight he wasn't going to lose. He kept his lips firmly pressed against the horses until he was able to slip a hand under his lover's pants. The angle was awkward, but he managed anyway. He wasted no time roughly stroking that meat until it was hard.

It was pretty clear what he was up to, and now that he was thinking with the wrong head again, Dylas would agree to whatever Doug suggested. The dwarf pulled back then, and released Dylas's cock. This was only to take his clothes off again, and this time he went in for the horse's pants too.

Now that they were naked and Doug was still on top, he whispered, "do you remember what I told you?"

Dylas only nodded, his resistance was gone. Doug grinned a sleazy grin and said, "spread your legs."

The horse did what he was told. Doug then slicked up his fingers and trailed a line of it up Dylas's cock to tease, it was a little cold but the sensation was a sort of tingling. Doug then brought his potion slicked fingers to Dylas's entrance. "Are you ready?" Just had to make sure he wasn't forcing anything.

Dylas only nodded. He was far too embarrassed to look at Doug or say anything to him at this point.

That was all he needed. Slowly he pressed in one finger until it was in all the way.

Dylas arched, and then bit his tongue, which caused him to jolt up again. Doug took it as a compliment and circled his finger around teasingly. Dylas seemed to relax, so Doug tried to slip another finger in. Dylas tried to pull away, or so it seemed, so Doug grabbed the horse's shaft with his other hand. That seemed to stop him from moving away.

The combination of stroking and Doug's fingers inside him was weakening Dylas's resolve, he wouldn't last much longer. After three fingers, Doug pulled them out completely. The horse braced himself for what was coming next. Doug pressed in, and immediately after he was fully buried Dylas came. Both of them were rendered speechless for a while, until Doug broke the silence. "couldn't you have held on a little longer?"

That was clearly an insensitive thing to say, Dylas only responded with a weak, "sh-shut up…" He turned away, and if Doug wasn't still inside him, he may have ran for it.

The dwarf sighed and pulled out. He was wearing that same expression he had at the clinic, but Dylas didn't see it. "Hey, I've got an idea." He said, trying to raise the horse's spirits. "Why don't you get on all fours for me?"

That certainly wasn't helping, but it was the least he could do for Doug, who's erection was as plain as ever. He did so wordlessly, not wanting to look Doug in the face.

The red head shone with glee. He kneeled at Dylas's entrance again, grinning to himself as he moved the tail out of the way. He placed his hands on the horse's hips and forcefully pressed in. It hurt a little more than last time, but not so much that he needed Doug to stop. Truthfully Doug didn't want to press in as fast as he did, but he couldn't wait any more.

His technique had no polish, he was clearly just trying to get himself off. Dylas was fine with that, he was already done for the night. Doug continued thrusting, mewling occasionally until he came. He was in pretty deep too.

He pulled out again, and Dylas turned to face him. He was tired, but still happy. Doug flashed a grin, "so, how was it?"

"Not bad." The horse replied, partially joking.

"Don't lie, you liked it." Doug said. He grabbed the remaining potion and held it for Dylas to take, he did.

There was silence, Doug already began drifting off. "So uh," Dylas said, "what now?"

"I guess you could spend the night." Doug said, snuggling into him.

Dylas blushed. That seemed like a terrible idea. "What about Blossom?"

"Eh." He didn't seem to care one way or the other. "She doesn't have to know you were here." Obviously she'd know. There really wasn't anywhere for him to hide. "You can sneak out tomorrow." By now Doug had wrapped himself fully around Dylas, and he wasn't letting go. Eventually Dylas gave up and fell asleep in his lover's arms.

* * *

I'm thinking there'll be one more after this, maybe two but most likely one. Perhaps you'll join me, even though there will be no more sexy times after this (as far as I know...) Tomorrow? Perhaps! Stay tuned!


	12. No secret

AN: Woah, sorry about the delay everyone! School buried me under a mountain of things I had to get done, but I think it slowed down for now. Anyway, on with the show!

* * *

In the morning, Dylas woke in horror to find a still naked Doug sleeping on top of him. The dwarf's head rested on his chest, which was now marginally damp with drool, and the dwarf's arms and legs were tightly wrapped around the horse's torso. What if someone saw this?! Wait, Granny Blossom surely seen this! And what would Proco think when he woke up and Dylas wasn't there? What a bad idea this was! How did he let Doug talk him into this? The horse had to get out of here before more suspicions were aroused.

As carefully as he could, he gently peeled Doug's limbs off of him and slowly pushed the dwarf to the side. The sleeping Doug mumbled something but didn't wake up. Carefully, he got up and got himself dressed. He didn't want to wake his sleeping lover, on the off chance he'd want him to stay for breakfast or other crazy things like that. No, he had to get out and he wasn't listening to anything Doug had to say on the matter. Of course, the floor had to be unusually creaky just to spite him. After every step he'd turn nervously to see if Doug woke, but luckily he stayed asleep. Trying to keep as quiet as possible, Dylas crept down the stairs and exited through the front door. Then he came face to face with Leon.

"Good morning." Leon said with a victorious grin. "Fancy meeting you here."

Dylas froze in place. How was he going to get out of this? There was nothing, he was trapped. So he stood there looking horrified, trying to come up with an explanation.

"Three, two, one…" Leon said out of nowhere.

The horse had no idea why the fox started counting down until he heard a loud "Hiya!" and felt a fashionable boot collide with his chest. He was knocked to the ground, too confused to be angry. "Ah ha! Caught you red handed!" Illuminata said, standing over the horse. "Thought you could get away, but nothing escapes me!"

Dylas thought she was talking about his night with Doug. His face had gone completely red, from anger ore embarrassment, or both, he didn't know. For one thing, what he did wasn't even illegal, for another, Doug was the one who orchestrated their meeting, and most importantly, this was none of her business! He stood and got ready to contest her accusation, but she continued, "Return the bath salts you stole!" She stood before him with her finger outstretched.

"What?" it was a relief to hear her get the actual situation so wrong, but also annoying to be accused of something so ridiculous. "Why would I steal bath salts?"

She adjusted her monocle with a look in her eye that said a long story was coming. "You think I wouldn't have figured that out already?" She paused for dramatic effect. "It all started when Lin Fa turned down the temperature when you were in the bath. From that moment, you swore revenge!" Dylas rolled his eyes. Leon appeared to be quite amused. "So you formed a truce with your arch nemesis Doug so you could get into the general store after hours." The horse flushed red again, causing Leon to snicker and Illuminata to smile triumphantly. "So you snuck in and stole the salts, your ultimate goal, put the Bell Hotel out of business!" She pointed her finger again, so close to Dylas that it was almost touching his face. "Ultimate revenge!"

It was easy to tell that Dyals wasn't taking this accusation seriously, he didn't want her to discover the truth of why he was there. "That's ridiculous." He mumbled in a low voice. He didn't feel the need to further explain himself.

"Silence criminal!" I'm taking you downtown!" There wasn't even a jail in Selphia, so it was an empty threat. She unstrapped some cuffs from her belt, dead serious about using them.

Just then, Doug came out of the shop. He'd heard the commotion and came to see what was going on, and also to chastise Dylas for trying to slip out undetected. Illuminata turned her attention to the sleepy dwarf. "Ah ha! The partner in crime shows his face at last!" Doug's jaw dropped because of course he thought she was talking about their meeting last night. How did she know, and why was she even making a big deal out of it? Doug was ready to call her out on it, but instead his face turned red with embarrassment and he shot a glare at his lover. Illuminata continued, "but why would Doug want to steal from his own shop? I've got it all figured out." She paused for dramatic effect again, then continued. "You want to take over the shop! And then, you and Dylas will own Selphia, and you'll buy out everyone and own everything!" She readjusted her monocle, looking pleased with herself.

Doug stared at her in disbelief, then looked to Dylas. "What is she talking about?"

Dylas shrugged, "I have no idea."

Leon, who had remained suspiciously silent the whole time, stood. "That's enough now." He said to Illuminata. "I'll take it from here, you go alert Lin Fa to their diabolical plan."

She nodded, then took off. Leon turned to the two lovers. "So, congratulations." He said with a sly grin. They both went red. Apparently the grilling wasn't over yet. Leon was amused. "I don't know why you're being so shy about it, everyone already knows." His smile broadened after he said that.

Dylas was the first to react. "What are you talking about?!"

"I told Kiel yesterday." He said bluntly. "I'd say everyone already knows by now." The dumbfounded look on both of their faces was the most satisfying thing the fox had seen in a while. He closed his fan with a look of accomplishment. "Looks like my work here is done." He slowly walked away then, mumbling "I think I''ll go torment Forte now." There was an almost childlike elation on his face as he said that.

So the two were left to make sense of their convoluted situation. Apparently Leon had known about their little tryst the whole time, but it was Leon so it was understandable. Dylas cringed at the thought of Kiel telling everyone his personal business. Doug seemed a little more confused than his equine companion. "Do you think we should go around and tell everyone Kiel is lying?" He horse said with his hand over his mouth.

Doug thought about it. No one else would believe them even if they did say Kiel was lying. He also thought about how nice it would be to finally be able to date his lover out in the open and not have sneak around. If it were up to him, he'd come out in an instant. How would Dylas react to that though? He was so shy, he might not appreciate everyone knowing their business. Best to just go direct, Doug thought. "No one would believe us." Doug said with a defeated grin.

Even if this was their reality, Dylas didn't like it at all. He wasn't ready to be outed, especially since he'd gained a reputation for being Doug's arch nemesis. Still, he couldn't fight the fact that what Doug was saying was true. There would be no point in trying to deny it. What a bind. "Are you okay with people knowing about- us?" It was almost painful to say, but also sort of freeing in a way.

"I guess." Doug said. Even if he wasn't entirely okay with the situation, and even if he wanted to fist fight Leon to the death for making their personal affairs public, he'd say he was okay with it for now. Really he was more worried about how Dylas was taking this.

There was a long silence, until Doug took the horse by the hand and said as casually as he could, "Oh well, what's done is done. Whataya say we go fishing and then take a bath?"

Dylas nodded nervously. Today was their first day as an official couple, so they might as well make the most of it.


	13. The True King of Fishing

AN: This is totally a PWP chapter, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Sorry it's taken so long, but anyway, enjoy!

* * *

It had been a month since Doug and Dylas had been forcibly outed by Leon, but it was all downhill from then. Sure they got hassled a little at first, mostly by their families, but once the teasing stopped everything was great. Doug was completely shameless in his displays of affection, while Dylas still kept himself restrained. Right now the two were fishing, with Doug looking completely bored out of his mind.

"How much longer are we going to do this?" he asked as he pulled in his fifth boot today.

"Shh." Dylas said, completely focussed. Unlike Doug, he was actually reeling in fish after fish nearly effortlessly.

Doug sighed. "How many boots could there possibly be?" He grumbled as he casted his line. Clearly he was bored senseless and was only here for what would come after. The sun was starting to set, but it couldn't possibly set fast enough for Doug.

"Shhh." Dylas said again, a little more annoyed this time.

Doug sighed again. There was no way he'd be able to stay quiet and still much longer. He started fidgeting, and that alone annoyed Dylas. It was then that Dylas got an idea to get Doug to settle down and just fish.

"How about we make a little wager?" He said, looking to his lover. When he noticed that Doug was intrigued, he continued. "Whoever catches the most fish before sunset gets to be on top."

Upon hearing that, coming from Dylas no less, Doug paused and considered the wager. Of course the odds were stacked against him, but he was never someone to back down from a challenge. He stood, looking confident. "There's no way I could lose!" Their eyes locked for a second, then instantly they began their contest.

It was actually impressive how Doug had somehow suddenly become good at fishing. Was he just pretending to suck at it just in case a situation like this came up? For the entirety of the contest they were equal, much to Dylas' surprise and horror. Being on bottom was one thing, but losing to Doug in a fishing contest was something he'd never be able to live down. As the sun was touching the horizon, the scores were still tied, six fish each. It all came down to this, they both cast their lines, and almost simultaneously they felt a bite. This was it, their eyes locked for the briefest of moments before the two of them began frantically reeling. They reeled faster than either of them had ever reeled in their lives. Dylas landed a cute cherry salmon, and Doug managed to pull in his sixth boot of the day. He couldn't believe it.

Dylas, on the other hand, seemed unusually happy about the whole thing. "I win." He said with a toothy grin, and an almost evil look in his eye.

"No fair! I demand a rematch!" Doug whined, though he was ready to accept his fate.

"Not a chance." Dylas said, then scooped up Doug bridal style. He was so eager that he was pretty much running back to his place. The dwarf squirmed a little at first, but eventually gave in. He didn't even bother hiding his face when the locals gave them curious looks.

Once they got to the restaurant, Dylas only gave a nod to Porco and Meg and ran up the stairs. He was a man on a mission, and luckily his family seemed to respect that. Doug even managed to muster a smile to the two as he was helplessly carried up.

Dylas was completely focussed as he tossed Doug onto his bed. The dwarf barely had time to react, he flipped himself face up, only to be attacked by Dylas. Honestly, Doug had never seen the horse so horny before, it was sexy. The horse pushed Doug down so that his back was flat to the bed. He had attempted to silence his lover instantaneously with a rough kiss as he attempted strip Doug of his pants. Doug was actually responding to this new side of his lover. The dwarf helped by wriggling out of his clothes, shamelessly displaying his hardening erection. Dylas was pleased.

No time was wasted, the horse started prodding his lover's entrance. Doug arched up, partially out of surprise. "I hope you have something." Doug mumbled, otherwise this would be painful.

"Oh yeah." Dylas said. He took a moment to find something in his drawer. It was probably the swiftest motion Dylas ever performed. He returned, but not before taking off his clothes, and poured the potion all over his hands, then instantly went back to preparing Doug.

"Mmm." Doug purred. This wasn't as bad as he thought. He squirmed and arched a little when Dylas added another finger.

"You like that?" Dylas growled.

"It's-" he grinned, "not bad."

Dylas pressed in another finger at that comment. There was a little resistance this time. "Uhn, slow down a little." Doug couldn't believe he said that, but it had to be said.

"Sorry." He continued sliding his fingers in and out of Doug, eventually deciding that he was amply prepared. "I'm going in now." Just giving his lover a heads up.

"Wait!"

"What?!"

Doug suddenly forced Dylas onto his back. The horse appeared to be angry, feeling like Doug wasn't keeping his word. "I'd like to try something." He'd still be fair to the horse, even if technically he would still be on top.

Dylas rolled his eyes. "What are you up to?"

Doug flashed a sly grin. "You'll see." He crawled down and positioned his hips. Slowly he lowered himself until the tip of Dylas's erection was touching his entrance. "It's called 'cowboy' I think." Doug said. "I think it's just perfect for us."

Dylas thought Doug was just playing around, but whatever. He'd even let the cowboy thing go, mainly because he was tired to lecturing Doug about calling him a horse. "Just do it." He said at last.

Doug grinned, and slid down Dylas's erection. The horse watched as Doug spread himself and slowly slide down his shaft. About half way Dylas seemed to get impatient and thrust his hips up. The dwarf was caught completely off guard.

"Aaahh- nn-" He moaned. "Not so fast!" Dylas stopped then, allowing his lover to control the pace. He then tried to continue his gradual decent. It didn't take too long for Doug to take on the entire length of his lover, now ready for whatever the horse wanted to do.

"Can I?" Dylas asked.

Doug gave a nod.

As soon as he had the okay, Dylas began thrusting. Doug moaned out of surprise, and then continued with each thrust. The horse was pleased.

"Your voice is adorable." He growled.

"Shu- shut up!" "Uhn, Ah- mm." It was embarrassing at first, hearing all of the mewls and sounds that Dylas was able to wring out of him. Might as well put on a good show though. "Dylas! Oh, yes! YES!" He let his mouth hang open, and censored none of the mewls that came out.

Dylas grabbed Doug's hip with one hand and quickened his pace. He started stroking roughly marginally in rhythm with his thrusts.

Doug arched his back and closed his eyes. "Un- Dylas!" It felt really good. He dug his nails into the horse's sides and braced himself, forcing himself to take on more. Dylas was so deep, and Doug loved every second of it.

He came shortly after, with a loud cry. Dylas came hard into Doug's ass, and seconds later they were lying side by side. Doug moved his hips slightly to allow his lover to slide out.

"So how was it?" The horse asked, wrapping both arms around Doug and nibbling on his ear slightly.

"It wasn't so bad." He admitted. "I suppose I could let you do this more often."

That was exactly what he wanted to hear. "You should have let me do this sooner."

"You never asked." Doug retorted.

Couldn't argue with that logic. After tonight though, he was definitely going to be more vocal in matters pertaining to his love life.

In the morning, after the two of them were done cuddling and doing other embarrassing couple's rituals, the two of them agreed they'd have breakfast at the restaurant. Doug insisted that Dylas pay since he was on top.

As the two of them came down the stairs, they couldn't help but notice Meg and Porco staring at them. "Hey, what's with that look?" Doug asked, immediately regretting that.

Meg blushed. "N-nothing!"

Porco gestured to a table full of dishes. Some of the dishes actually had food on them. "You must be STARVING after all that exercise!" He spun around, looking pleased with himself.

It was pretty obvious what they were talking about, and surprisingly Doug didn't seem to care. Dylas had flushed a little, but they both sat down anyway. All the while, Meg couldn't look directly at them, it was just too awkward. Porco couldn't look away.

Doug didn't seem to care, and even Dylas seemed pretty okay with it by now. "So, what do you feel like doing after breakfast?" The dwarf asked casually.

"I dunno. More fishing?"

"No, please! Anything but that!"

The horse grinned. "What if we make another wager?"

"Oh no. Not unless I get to pick the game this time."

"Name it, I'll beat you at anything you want, as many times as you want."

"We'll see about that!"

After that they came up with a new challenge every day. Everyone knew what was going on, but that was fine. Doug actually got a kick out of seeing people's reactions to some of the things they came up with.

* * *

AN: I think I'll finish this either today or tomorrow! There's no school, so it's all good!


	14. The End

AN: This is it everyone, the last chapter! The absurdity has been amped to the max! Enjoy!

* * *

Doug had been acting strange lately. He'd been running around talking with the other eligible men in secret. When he wasn't doing that, he was hanging out at the forge, but Dylas knew he hated forging. So what was all this? Rapt with suspicion, Dylas started following his lover in not so secret to see what all of this strange behaviour was about.

The first thing he was able to observe was Doug talking with Vishnal about something. All he managed to hear was 'shout it from the roof tops,' or something. As Doug was leaving, they seemed to run into each other. Dylas went pretty direct, "what were you two talking about?"

Of course the Dwarf was caught off guard, but he responded quickly and with confidence, "nothing."

The horse scoffed. "What are you up to?"

"Seriously, it's nothing." Doug said, a little more uneasy this time.

Dylas figured he'd let him off the hook, but not entirely. So he stalked him around for the rest of the day, listening in on conversations and glaring suspiciously at Doug. Eventually though, he gave up and just went home, looking troubled. He didn't even bother talking with Porco and Meg.

-The next day-

The horse woke to see a note that said simply, 'come to the shop.' It was scrawled in Doug's awful handwriting, and so Dylas just rolled his eyes and did that.

There was a crowd. You'd think everyone would have been used to all the crazy antics by now. Dylas had to push through to see what Doug was up to. "Hey, why'd you call me out here?"

Doug cleared his throat. "Dylas! I've got something important to tell you!" He turned and started climbing up the wall. It may not have been obvious to everyone else, but Dylas knew what was coming. So, in a split second decision, he lunged forward and grabbed the dwarf around the waist and dragged him off. He had to stop this before Doug did something insanely embarrassing. Then he pushed through the crowds and brought Doug with him.

"Hey!" the red head said in protest.

"Quiet you!" He scoffed. His face had gone completely red. He didn't stop either, he kept going long past the city limits.

"I was trying to be romantic!" He retorted. "I thought you were over this."

Dylas paused. "You don't need to go climbing buildings." He mumbled.

Doug pouted a little. Eventually the horse stopped just outside the forest. They were silent for a brief moment. "So uh, what was all that about anyway?" The horse asked.

"I probably shouldn't tell you now." The dwarf responded sarcastically. "But since you asked nicely, I will." He cleared his throat. "I SPENT ALL DAY FORGING, EVERYDAY, AND LET ME TELL YOU, I HATED IT!"

Dylas was caught off guard by the volume. He covered his ears and said a very annoyed, "why are you yelling?"

Doug ignored that completely and continued, "BUT I REALLY WANTED TO GIVE YOU THIS RING. SO LISTEN UP!" He cleared his throat again. "I LOVE YOU!" He held a ring in his hand. It had a blue stone, the same colour as Dylas' hair.

There was a silence. Dylas didn't know how to respond to such a forceful confession. So he tried to dodge, "what's the ring for?" His voice lacked conviction.

"Uh- well-" That wasn't the response Doug was looking for, but it wasn't a flat out rejection or a lecture, so he'd oblige. "There's a tradition in my clan where I give rings out to everyone important to me, and uh- you get a special one." Suddenly he felt awkward. "I don't know if we can get married or not, but uh, even if it's not official, I wanted you to know the extent of my feelings." Now he felt really awkward, and actually blushed a little.

More silence. Doug was starting to get a little agitated. "Say something!" the red head demanded.

"I uh-" This was such a strange and forceful confession that he really had no words for it. Doug was sort of proposing to him? How could he possibly react to that? "I love you too." He said with his hand over his mouth. "But- the ring- I don't know."

Doug seemed mixed about that answer. "Well, it's okay. I guess we couldn't really get married anyway." He was about to put the back in his pocket, when both of them heard a loud, gruff voice.

They both turned. Volkanon was running toward them with tears in his eyes, while everyone else appeared around them. They had been followed. Seconds later the two were being crushed, one in each arm, in Volkanon's powerful arms. Their faces were soon blue from oxygen deprivation.

"Oh Doug, that was beautiful! WHAaaa!" Both parties struggled to break free, but the butler's grip was impossible to break. "Of course you can get married! I'll personally destroy anyone who'd deny your beautiful love!" He sobbed openly for a few more seconds before releasing the two. They fell limply to the ground. It took a few more seconds for them to catch their breath, and they stood once they did.

Dylas shot a glare at Doug. He was clearly blaming him for everyone finding them. The dwarf would make it up to him later, but right now, there was this to deal with. "You say you'll marry us?" Doug was seriously curious about that. Dylas's jaw dropped and he looked away. Doug on the other hand, actually seemed excited. "But I haven't even received an answer yet." This was getting a little out of hand, but in a fun way. He turned to Dylas again, looking expectant.

"I uh," This was so awkward, with everyone just staring them down. "I-" Having an audience made this so much more difficult. At a time like this, what should he do? In a split second decision, he decided to just speak his mind. "Ah well, good. I was getting worried. I couldn't tell how much you actually cared for me."

Everyone cheered, assuming that it was a yes. It was, but it was still presumptuous of them. Dylas blushed a little and Doug grinned ear to ear. The dwarf approached to present his ring, but Volkanon (forcefully) insisted that they get ready for the ceremony. Right now. It was all happening so fast that hardly anyone could keep up with it. Luckily, being the ever attentive butler that he was, Volkanon just happened to have perfectly fitting tailor made suits for the two, and before they could even make it back into town the place was decorated nicely thanks to Vishnal and Clorica. Damn these guys worked fast. They glanced at Leon, who had a sly smile on that said he had a hand in this somewhere.

Before either of them knew it, they were in uniform and standing in the room with Ventuswill. She seemed pretty intrigued with the whole situation but didn't question them.

They escaped the crowd soon after, retreating by airship to the Leon Karnak. No one would think to look for them there. They landed, laughing at the sheer lunacy of the situation.

"So, where are we gonna live now?" Doug asked. It would be strange to just keep going like they were, or to have to move in at either the restaurant or the shop.

"We should probably look into buying a house." Maybe that vacant one, or maybe they could have one built. It would probably take Volkanon a whole minute to build one, but they could wait it out.

"Man, I don't have that kind of money. What does waiting tables pay?"

Dylas scoffed. "That's none of your business."

"It is now, we just got married. I think." He snickered to himself. "So uh, now that you're my wife-" He was cut off before he could finish that sentence.

"You're MY wife!"

"Yeah right! Keep dreaming. You're the girl in this relationship."

"What?!" He wasn't going to take that.

"Yeah. I'll show you on our honeymoon." Doug said with a snicker.

"No, I'll show you!"

The challenge was issued, and when the sun finally set they headed back to Selphia. When they returned they were pleased to note that Volkanon did build them a place out on the cliff. That was nice of him.

It was a pretty cosy place. Not a mansion by any means, but it would do. Doug stretched out and dragged Dylas down onto the bed with him. "You know what I'm gonna do?" He asked with a snicker.

"Oh no. I'm not being the girl."

"Yes you are." Doug retorted.

"We'll see about that!"

-and they fought all the time, but still lived happily ever after-

-The End-

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AN: Well, that's all. I hope you liked it! So now that I have some (little) experience, I might try taking on a request. I'm new at this, but if you like what you see here and you'd like me to write out something for you, just say so! I'll do my best to make it happen if I can, for now.


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